


Taking Responsibility

by novashyperion



Series: And I Reach For You [2]
Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, Crushes, Developing Relationship, Fluff, Holding Hands, M/M, Roommates, aquarium date
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-14
Updated: 2019-03-14
Packaged: 2019-11-18 04:02:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18112880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/novashyperion/pseuds/novashyperion
Summary: Sousuke had an idea. An awful, brilliant idea.Or, Sousuke just really wants Haruka to take responsibility for holding his hand by - holding it some more.Sequel to Your Hand In Mine





	Taking Responsibility

Sousuke had an idea. An awful, brilliant idea.

One he knew was genius, well thought out, _perfect_. It might have taken him the better part of two weeks to come up with (and not because he wasn’t about to go and ask _Rin_ to help him), but it was perfect nonetheless.

He was going to get back at Haruka and hold his hand.

Haruka had started all of this, the little jerk, and Sousuke was determined to see his vengeance exacted. After all, Haruka deserved it.

No one had told Haruka he could just go and trick Sousuke like he had, grab his hand and just _hold_ it like that. Hold it like it was the most natural thing in the world; make Sousuke feel like he could tell and memorize each and every line and would-be callous along his palms and fingers through his winter gloves. Force Sousuke to come to terms with his feelings and put a name to it of all things. That in and of itself was down right rude.

But what had gotten Sousuke truly heated was the fact that Haruka had never brought it up again after they’d come back from the konbini, not once. Sousuke could only remember feeling Haruka’s hand slipping out of his. He watched him unlocking the door to their place and then that had been it. No more hand holding, no discussion, not a peep.

So, maybe, perhaps, Sousuke had leered at Haruka across their little table for two weeks. Making pointed glances towards his hands, hoping that he would make a remark, or better yet, do something - like hold his hand. _Hold my hand!!_ Sousuke wanted to yell. Yet Haruka seemed none the wiser.

Which Sousuke found to be odd. Haruka _lived_ to bust his balls.

Funny enough, it was what made him like Haruka so much in the first place. The snark, his sass, the hidden curl of his smile. He had no care for Sousuke’s tall and imposing figure. He made his displeasure with something he did known, but never with cruelty. He pushed in his quiet, stubborn sort of way, and fit against Sousuke’s own quiet sort of bad humor. They were often two cats in a pissing match over a blanket where neither wanted to leave.

Either way, it was unfair. Why was he the only one who had to sit around consumed with longing for the rest of his evenings? His dreams plagued with a faceless figure that he knew deep down was the menace in question himself, lying parallel to him in a bed, their hands joined together between them. Even worse was hearing his faceless dream saying his name, only for it to be the real Haruka rudely waking him up because he overslept or something.

Haruka would pay, he would see to it.

Was it petty? Probably. But pettiness was kind of their default and a part of their relationship. Pettiness and begrudging camaraderie.

 _But!_  Sousuke argued. _Haruka started it_ , _so he should take responsibility._

-

Sousuke’s Master Plan went like this: Get Haruka to go to the Aquarium.

They both loved the place and with winter break setting in, it was perfect for both their schedules. Better yet, it would be somewhat crowded since they had opened a temporary winter cafe with a big foaming whale shark in cups of hot chocolate in the adjoining cafe. Haruka had expressed interest in going a while back, mostly so he could figure out how to replicate it himself at home. Sousuke and Haruka hated crowds, meaning they’d go early. There would still be significantly enough people that they’d need to stick close together.

What better way to stick together than hand holding? It was brilliant. He would let Haruka get momentarily disconnected from his side, stop and look as though he were annoyed, and then grab Haruka’s hand “so they don’t get separated”. That would show him. If he wasn’t going to hold Sousuke’s hand, then he was going to hold Haruka’s and act like it wasn’t that big a deal, too.

Not even Rin could have planned that better, Sousuke thought.

A few days into their break, Sousuke had flashed the tickets to the aquarium during dinner.

“Hey,” He casually started, a little too quickly. “You wanted to go right?”

Haruka glanced at them, nodding as he chewed.

“Good, I had time after I had lunch with Rin today. We can go tomorrow.”

“Hm. Sounds fine. I’ll wake you up when it’s time to go.” He furrowed his brow then. “Since you never let your alarm do its job.”

Sousuke held both hands up in peace. “Hey, it’s not my fault you’re a better alarm than my actual alarm. Heard it’s going to get colder tomorrow, dress warm.”

Haruka made a face. Truthfully, if it weren’t for the aquarium, Haruka might not have even left the apartment at all for the break. He, like Sousuke, wasn’t keen on the cold. Frozen water was not his ideal form of water, apparently.

Sousuke smiled. “Cool. Looking forward to it.”

Subtle as it was, Sousuke could pick out a matching grin on his roommate’s face.

-

True to form, Haruka got Sousuke up by eight. The aquarium opened at nine-thirty, but between eating breakfast, dressing, and taking the train, they would make it just in time to be among the first people when it opened.

Sluggishly, Sousuke crawled out of bed. He settled heavily in his chair, shoveling whatever it was that Haruka had made for breakfast until his eyelids divorced his cheeks. It wasn’t until he was taking his last bite that he really woke up.

Today was the day, the day he held Haruka’s hand again. _That_ got him up. Scarfing down the last bite a little too enthusiastically, and ignoring Haruka’s brief disgusted look, Sousuke was out of his chair and back into his room to dress in record time. He called down the hall that he would do the dishes when he came back and set about washing his face and layering on his clothes. Eventually, he heard Haruka’s quiet shuffling. When he finally emerged, Haruka was waiting at the door for him; he gave him a once over.

“Did _you_ dress warm enough? I know how your shoulder gets.” Haruka gave it a pointed look.

“Yep. Thanks for the sweater by the way, it really helps.”

  
Haruka only hummed, embarrassed as always when thanked. Sousuke could relate and let it drop. Resisting the urge to grab his roommate’s hand as they filed out of the apartment and into the cold, Sousuke resolved to bottle up all his urges so he could hold the heck out of Haruka’s hand at the aquarium instead.

There was a small crowd by the time they reached. Enough that people that they spent a short time outside buying tickets and getting mutually peeved at being in the cold. When they entered, defrosting as they went, Sousuke could see the way Haruka almost melted. They tucked away their scarves and jackets neatly into the backpack Sousuke had, and took to the opposite tunnel of attractions than the most of the people.

Down the hall, Sousuke could see the rippling blue reflecting along the floors; the hallway like a bubbled pathway through the ocean. Beside him, Haruka sped up and Sousuke took all of two steps to catch up. Schools of fish saunted by, ranging from all shapes and sizes, taking their sweet time past the glass. Haruka stopped, head tilted so far back he thought his roommate might topple backwards. If Sousuke looked closely enough, he could see the big shark that ambled by reflecting in the deep blue of his eyes; one deep sea reflecting another.

Sousuke glanced down at Haruka’s empty hands. This time, it was gloveless. He bit his lip.

Behind them, voices echoed from the hall. People were coming. The time was coming, his moment was just about to arrive. He reached forward in anticipation.

“Haruka -”

“Sousuke.”

Sousuke paused.

“Sousuke, are my hands cold?” Haruka asked.

“Say what?”

Then he reached for Sousuke’s hand and held it palm to palm. A few seconds ticked by before Sousuke’s brain had caught up. He scowled.

“You -”

Sousuke watched a smile break across Haruka’s face; the sly upturn under his usual, apathetic half-lidded look, and the cool fire blazing in his eyes. Under his bangs he could just make out how far Haruka’s brows had climbed. A challenge. It reminded Sousuke that, despite his rather indifferent, easy nature, Haruka was exactly what many feared in the water.

 _The little shit expression_ , Sousuke called it.

The one he used when he’d effectively trapped Sousuke in his little teasings. Nothing cruel about it, but it did nothing kind for Sousuke’s embarrassment either. Big and stoic as he was, Sousuke flustered rather easily.

Unbidden, Sousuke felt his cheeks warm and was unable to stop it. The warmer his face felt, the worse Haruka’s smile got.

“You little shit,” Sousuke complained, sounding suspiciously like Rin to his own ears; a little embarrassed but awed at the same time. Damn him for turning Sousuke into a lovesick young maiden. He was next on his revenge list.

“Well.” It wasn’t a question. “Are they cold?”

He passed a narrowed look his way, the ghost of a smirk on his face.

“You,” Sousuke stuttered. “You really! You honestly.” He groaned, scowling at Haruka who did nothing to hide his own obnoxious triumph, ignoring the weird glances they were getting as people began to pass them by. They filed around them like a grouping of fish might avoid a rock before rejoining as one.

Haruka rolled his eyes. He readjusted his grip on Sousuke’s hand until it was more natural, their fingers and palm interlocking in the right way, the way it should always be.

Sousuke’s ears went red. “Not really.”

“Good. Because yours are sweaty and gross.”

“Let go then.”

Haruka squeezed their hands tighter. He gently tugged him along to continue on their mission.

“No.”

Even when he lost, Sousuke somehow found he had won. He supposed, in a sense, Haruka _had_ taken responsibility. For most of their time at the aquarium, and all the way back home, Haruka had not let go of his hand. Nor had he forgotten to do it the next day, or the days after that. He’d take his loss with grace, then.

For now.

**Author's Note:**

> Your Hand in Mine (ao3) ->https://archiveofourown.org/works/4986136  
> tumbllllr ->http://shyfoxes.tumblr.com/post/111694219238/hey-yamazaki-whats-that-in-your-hand-what
> 
> and tumblr crosspost--->http://shyfoxes.tumblr.com/post/183457260153/taking-responsibility-souharu


End file.
